How to Twist a Dragon's Tail
by CessieRose25
Summary: Thirteen years after the events of HTCADC, the Haddock family and their adopted daughter, Ember, work to keep the peace in the Archipelago. However, after the Berserkers start taking an interest in Ember, they begin to suspect that a mysterious bandit targeting the Far Northern tribes may know something about her origins. T for safety
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: My Life? Whose Life?**

Have you ever wondered if your life has just been a mistake? Like you were never supposed to exist in the first place, or that you have too many questions about yourself that no one can really answer?

For me, that's pretty much been my life since I confirmed that I wasn't really the daughter of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his wife, Astrid – the Chieftains of Berk. That was eight-ish years ago when I was able to understand a bit about life but even so, they're still 'Ma' and 'Pa' to me, just not 'Mum' and 'Dad'. Don't get me wrong – they're the best family I could hope for...I just wish I knew who my real family was.

My name's Ember. That's really the only thing that I do know about myself. It's pretty obvious that I'm not the Chief's daughter even though Astrid and Hiccup try not to let me know otherwise – my hair is jet black that somehow shimmers auburn in the sunlight, my skin has no freckles whatsoever and my eyes are, of all colours, bright green-yellow. Seriously, who has eyes that colour? Well, me, obviously but I was being hypothetical. Flint says they look like dragons' eyes – I agree with him and am just grateful that he doesn't rub it in my face twenty-four-seven. Flint is Astrid and Hiccup's real child and their oldest son, by the way, and to be fair he's pretty good as a sibling figure. He's the spitting image of his dad except he's got his mum's blue eyes and blonde hair (although it was streaked with auburn if you looked close enough).

Flint and I have been good friends since forever but we still have our disagreements. For example, one time during dinner when we were five he made fun of me for having sucked in Combat Training that day and I just about lost it with him, going as far as to literally leap over the table without disturbing the food (don't ask me how), tackle him and pin his arms behind his back until he screamed for mercy. Okay, Astrid had to wrestle me away and Hiccup needed to calm me down but I prefer my version of events better. To make up for it, Flint promised that he wouldn't make fun of me again in Dragon Training but since then I've never given him cause to do so – I don't want to brag but I'm the best trainer our age in the village.

Outside Dragon Training, I used to be the weirdo of the village but that didn't necessarily make me the 'outcast' – I was, and kind of always have been, just a girl who's never quite been the same as everyone else my age – to be fair, it's just the fact that I don't know much about myself that set me apart during our childhood so it's not that big of a deal. Hiccup says that being that way isn't a bad thing – heck, he didn't exactly start having real friends until he was thirteen – but my main problem was that the other teens, excluding Flint, never used to see me as one of them because I'm not really native to Berk (it's not a problem anymore, just used to be). I've never quite understood that – I've lived here as long as they have, shouldn't that be enough to call Berk my home?

"Sounds like someone we knew." That's what Hiccup said to me once when I told him about it. He ignored my question of "Who?" and instead turned in the opposite direction having 'remembered' that he had a farming problem to sort out with the Ingermans on the other side of Berk. I asked Astrid about it and she simply told me that Hiccup didn't like talking about it and suggested that I go out to practise my axe-throwing skills in the forest. Yeah, trust my adopted mother to suggest combat practise to take your mind off things.

Speaking of my family, I might as well talk about them. My adopted father is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, also known as Hiccup the Dragon Trainer/Conqueror/whatever you want to call him, who just so happens to be the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Berk. He's not what you'd call your typical Viking – he's not the biggest man in the world (he makes up for it in height) and he prefers to negotiate and figure out problems with his head rather than his muscle but that's kind of what I like about him. He's probably the smartest man I know, not to mention a great chief (not that he likes the job that much, he just happens to be good at it). He's the one who took me into the family and, even if I don't know where I come from or how I got to Berk in the first place, I'll always be grateful to him for that and I'd do anything for him. Some people call me a 'Daddy's Girl' because of that but I don't think that really applies here given that he's not really my dad, hence why I just call him Pa. It's easier that way.

Astrid Horrendous Haddock I, also known as Astrid the Striking (so named because she is a good-looking lady and she packs a punch on the battle field – trust me, I've seen her), is, as I mentioned earlier, my adopted mother, although I just call her Ma. Whilst she's like Hiccup in that she's not the biggest Viking but she's still strong and can fight like a Valkyrie if she wants/needs to (sometimes a combination of both, although I'm not sure how that works). Like Hiccup, she is very smart and if there was one woman I'd love to be like when I'm older, it would be her. Whilst she can be a strict mother to me, Flint and the others at times, somehow I know that she means well and just does it to protect us. I don't know how I know, I just do.

Flint, like I've said before, is my best friend and adopted 'twin' brother. Okay, we're not technically twins given that our birthdays are...what? Five months apart (he was born just after Snoggletog – my birthday's halfway through summer)? We just call ourselves twins because we're the same age plus it makes me feel like less of an outsider. In fact, it was the revelation that Flint and I are the same age but have birthdays too far away from each other to be twins yet too close to each other to be separate siblings of the same family that gave it away to me that I wasn't really his blood relative. Okay, probably the entire village knew this before I did but I was a kid at the time! Don't judge. And besides, Astrid and Hiccup both act as if I don't know – I'm not sure if they know that I know I'm adopted but they act as if I'm their real daughter. Flint, like I said, looks like his dad with the exception of his mum's eyes and hair but his personality really comes from his mother – he's smart, true enough (most of the Haddocks are, from what I've seen. Emphasis on 'most', though – it fizzles out on the Jorgenson side of the family), but he is pretty impulsive and will get into fights if provoked. He's also inherited his mum's social skills, something I've heard Hiccup is more than relieved about.

Then there're the ones I haven't mentioned yet – the triplets, Lysa, Nott and Eva. They were born in the autumn eight years after me and Flint and, honestly, I don't think you could find a group of siblings who looked so alike and yet were so different. Lysa is pretty much a five-year-old female version of Hiccup – awkward socially, sarcastic and always with a witty comment up her sleeve. Nott is so quiet you wouldn't notice she was there sometimes and she's so shy she hardly leaves Astrid's side when we go out for walks, often hiding in her cloak or behind her dress or whatever she was wearing. Eva, on the other hand, is the complete opposite – you wouldn't have expected someone so egotistic to have come from the same family as the relatively humble-in-comparison Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Like I said, they looked exactly the same, being the spitting image of their mother except with Hiccup's green eyes (something Astrid was happy with – she's a sucker for green eyes, apparently) and dark auburn hair, so it's really only their personalities which allow people to tell them apart.

That's the family I've grown up with. It's the best family I could have ever hoped for – a fair dad, a protective mum (I don't find it annoying personally – I like the attention Astrid gives us), a best friend brother and the obligatory slightly irritating younger sisters. Though there are times where I think of how nice it would be to know where I came from and who I really was. I mean, Astrid and Hiccup are great parents, but there's always the thought and knowledge that I feel guilty of having – they're not _my_ parents. I sometimes think of how great it would be to have my own mother kiss me goodnight, or my own father take me out flying on our dragons or even my own siblings to squabble with. I fell horrible about it, but I can't deny that the feeling's there.

I have to say though, most of the time I don't really think about things that much. So what if I don't know who my real family is? Hiccup and Astrid are the best parents ever. I've got a relatively good life by Viking standards here on Berk – heck, I even mastered most of the dragon training techniques as soon as I learnt how to walk. I just...get them, if that makes any sense. Especially Hiccup's Night Fury, Toothless, and his family, made up of the Star Backed Night Fury, Windwalker, and their four hatchlings: Starlight, Luna, Draco and the littlest, Pondskater (I called him that after watching him literally hop across the lake in the cove). Pondskater had been around for only a few years – he's the youngest at three. Starlight's coming up to thirteen, being the first-born of Toothless and Windwalker, and Luna is five years younger as was Draco – they're a rare case of dragon twins, having been born at the same time (Night Furies are the only dragons to give birth to live young).

Like I said, I've never known much about myself as a person but that's never really bothered me. Despite the occasional "You don't come from here – you're not a Hairy Hooligan...meh...meh...meh" from some of the others, I'm just a normal teenage Viking trying to survive. Like so many have said before me, we're Vikings – surviving is what we do for a living.

Quite literally.

/\

"...and that's how the Outcasts formed an alliance with the Hairy Hooligans," Fishlegs Ingerman told a group of younger Vikings who listened to his tale with awe all over their faces. I was passing by on my way back from the forge so I decided I might as well listen. Fishlegs was a good friend of Astrid and Hiccup's, being part of the elite Defenders of Berk team (or even the Dragon Masters, take your pick), and his stories of their adventures were pretty well told to say the least. "From that day forward, they were no longer a danger to our village, nor any other in this group of islands."

"I hope you remembered the part about Dad kicking his butt with Hookfang!" a burly teenage boy called as he strutted past. I rolled my eyes.

"Rather he almost chickened and only came in because Hiccup would have gotten most of the credit anyway!" I shouted back. I'd heard the story countless times from Astrid and Hiccup. Spitface Jorgenson was Snotlout Jorgenson's son – Hiccup's...second-nephew, I guess? What relation is the child of your cousin? – and was just like his dad in every way, shape and form. Heck, apparently he even had that arrogant walk to a tee if Astrid had anything to say about it. Lucky for me, he never hit a girl so I could get away with punching a hole in his ego every now and then.

"Hey, Em!"

"Race ya!"

"Last one to the Cove..."

"...cleans the Great Hall for a month!"

I raced off towards the forest at the sound of the 'Twins'. Well, they called themselves that but in reality they were two kids of different ages – they're cousins, in fact. One of them, Stonewall (we all called him Stone), was the son of Tuffnut Thorston and the other, Sticky (she insists on us calling her Sticks), is the daughter of his twin sister, Ruffnut and Fishlegs, and was a year older than him. I swear to Odin that the Thorston twins purposefully coordinated the names (Sticks and Stones...I ask you). How could two people that stupid be on the Defenders of Berk Team? Okay, I was being mean there - the Thorston Twins admittedly had their moments. I actually asked Hiccup about it once and even he wasn't able to come up with an answer – the only thing he said was that they were better than Snotlout at times, which saying something.

I dropped the axe I was carrying on a nearby cart and raced towards the forest. Glancing over my shoulder I could see Flint, Spitface and Ruffnut and Fishleg's other daughter, Scalene (actually not a bad name by our standards), hot on my heels so I decided to pick up the pace a bit. Not only was I fairly strong for my age I could also run pretty much as fast as I wanted for as long as I wanted – okay, so far my limit was twenty laps of the village at full speed but that was still a heck of a lot more than anyone else could do.

"I hope you guys are hungry 'cos you're about to eat my dust!" I called back, literally kicking up dirt into their faces as I darted through the trees. It wasn't too long before I overtook the 'twins' (I'm just gonna call them that for convenience) so I slowed my pace a little to let the others catch up – hey, I played fair, unlike _some_ I could mention. Despite my slowing down, I still reached the Cove before anyone else did.

"How can you run that fast?" Scalene panted. Despite being one of the larger teens of our group, she was quick on her feet and had remarkable agility to boot. Flint followed closely behind her with Spitface and the twins trailing along soon after.

"I like running," I shrugged.

"That's for sure – you never keep still," Flint smirked. I poked my tongue out at him. "Okay – who's up for Hand-to-Hand Combat?" he grinned. Everyone except Scalene snickered in approval although I was calmer about it – don't get me wrong, I'm a decent fighter I just don't like getting _into _fights. Still, the occasional Hand-to-Hand practise sessions we had could be fun plus it gave us an excuse to give to Snotlout, the head of Hand-to-Hand Combat Training, when he thought we weren't practising enough.

"I'm gonna stick out of this, thanks," Scalene mumbled. Her sister snickered.

"Come on, sis – people are gonna start wondering if we're actually related," she smirked.

"Yeah, just because you take after Mom, Sticks..." Scalene muttered. It was true – Sticks took after Ruffnut in every way just like Scalene took after her father. It really was difficult to believe they were sisters – it was easier to believe that Sticks and Stone were brother and sister, they were so close.

"Don't worry, Scale," I reassured. "You can be ref – someone will just have to fight twice," I shrugged, taking a sideways glance at Spitface. "Who's first?"

"Us," Flint smirked slyly. I glared at him sarcastically – I hated it when he did that. "Give me your best shot, Em!" My glare turned into a smirk.

"You're on!" I cried, charging forward. Flint easily dodged my first attack and came back with one of his own which I used to my advantage – he'd left himself open for a quick punch to the chest which I duly delivered. Thing is he tripped me up and almost pinned me to the ground – I just about managed to roll out of the way so his face became best friends with the floor. In the end we were so evenly matched we had to call a draw.

"Not bad," Flint smiled, brushing off his shoulder armour pads. "You're getting better."

"You're not too bad yourself," I shrugged. "Okay – Sticks, Stonewall, you guys next."

We spent the next ten or so minutes laughing at the twins' attempts at shoving each other in the water. It ended with Stonewall giving his cousin an uppercut which sent her flying into the pond. By the time their fight was over, Spitface had lost interest in practising so we cancelled the last fight. The afternoon was heading our way so everyone except me and Flint started heading back to the village. My best friend and I waved them off as we remained in the Cove – we had other plans.

"Shall we see if those calls Mom and Dad taught us work?" Flint asked, a gleeful glint sparkling in his eye. I nodded, a smile stretching across my face as I cupped my hands to either side of my mouth and howled. Another howl answered and minutes later my favourite dragon in the world came bounding over the side of the Cove and tackled me where I stood.

"Hey, Skates," I greeted as Pondskater began licking my face clean. "Good job answering the call," I added, retrieving a smoked salmon from my belt pouch and giving it to the guy. Pondskater may have only been three years old and small for a Night Fury but he was a wonderful dragon to ride and a great friend. Astrid and Hiccup had taught me and Flint the secrets of training dragons ever since we could walk, which was part of the reason why we were the best kids in the village at Dragon Training, but it had only been when Pondskater was born that I knew which dragon I wanted as my own.

Pondskater was a 100% Night Fury, not a Star Backed one like his mother and three siblings who all had silver markings decorating their hides and forked tails that sparked like lightning. Instead he was completely black like his father and had eyes that were a slightly darker green than his parents. It seemed that different eye colour was common in the family of Night Furies – Starlight had turquoise eyes whilst Luna and Draco were the only ones to share their parents' bright green eyes. I didn't know why – maybe dragon eyes changed colour as easily as cats' fur colour did.

"Your turn," I nodded to Flint who let out a howl of his own – the same type as mine seeing as we both had a Night Fury. Seconds later a jet black dragon with silver flecks dotting her hide – a little older than Pondskater – hopped into the Cove and gently nuzzled her rider's side.

"Hey, Starlight," Flint smiled softly. Starlight was the oldest of Toothless and Windwalker's family and had been born at Snoggletog about the same time as Luna and Draco, making her only a week older than Flint. The two were best friends, just like me and Flint, and they were easily each other's favourite siblings.

"Perfect!" I grinned, scratching Pondskater behind the ear. "It worked!"

"I guess all that practising paid off," Flint beamed, scratching Starlight fondly behind the ear. It was true – we'd spent at least a month driving Ma and Pa up the wall practising our dragon calls. "Afternoon flight?" he suggested, mounting his dragon. I nodded eagerly and leapt onto Pondskater before gently nudging him into the sky, closely followed by Flint and Starlight.

Flying with the dragons, especially in the relatively warm afternoon sun, was pretty much my favourite thing in the entire world. Up here, it didn't matter that I barely knew who I was or where I'd come from. It was just me, Pondskater and whoever else was with us. It was beautiful.

/\

We'd spend entire weeks like this. Practising Hand-to-Hand, working on our Dragon Training techniques, flying in the afternoons...that was pretty much the daily routine for the new Riders of Berk. Given Hiccup's way with words and sharp wit he was able to prevent wars with other tribes, including the Berserkers by some miracle (Hiccup and the Chief, Dagur, had never seen eye to eye), and as our parents had told us many times before, the alliance with the Outcasts meant we no longer faced trouble from them. We were experiencing an era of peace that blessed every aspect of village life.

That is, until the day we had our first visit from the old enemy in twelve years.

* * *

**AN: IT'S FINALLY HERE! Sorry it's taken so long to get this one going guys – this is a complete rewrite of my original _How to Twist a Dragon's Tail_ so writing has been slow going. Hopefully it's been worth the wait. Also, sorry that I've been really inactive lately - luckily, holidays have now started so I should have some more time on my hands for a bit.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Unexpected Guests**

It was actually after the team and I had set off for an afternoon flight. It was Freya's Day so we were all looking forward to a weekend off from Dragon and Combat Training – in fact, I think we had plans to go explore an island I remembered seeing south of Berk once. We were racing through the clouds when Spitface actually spotted something useful.

"Hey, guys! Take a look at this!" he called from his Monstrous Nightmare, Firelight. I didn't want to believe it at first – the guy was almost as irritating as his dad.

"If it's another Terrible Terror flock, cous, _nobody cares_!" Flint snapped.

"Actually, you really _should_ look at this," Scalene cut across from her Gronkle, Ignis. I peered over Pondskater's shoulder and squinted – I had better eyesight than most but even I had to squint to see something hundreds of feet below me. What I did see, however, was not something that I particularly _wanted_ to see.

"Why would the Chief station ships all the way out there?" Stonewall wondered from the left head of the Hideous Zippleback he shared with Sticks – Double Trouble. I know, unimaginative but we're talking Sticks and Stonewall here. I bit my lip – I didn't need one of Hiccup's telescopes to tell what ships those were, anchored by the outcrops about a mile off Berk's shores.

"Those aren't our ships," I replied worriedly. I'd recognise the crest on the sails – a Skrill. "Flint – we need to find Pa. Everyone else, get back to land – we've got a problem." I made a nose dive for home, followed by Flint whilst the others dispersed back to their houses. We landed outside the house as Astrid was grooming Stormfly.

"You two are back early," she noted as Stormfly greeted the two young Night Furies. All of Stormfly's offspring had left Berk to live their own lives (although there was one named Sunset who made occasional visits) so the Deadly Nadder often acted as an aunt to the Night Fury family. "I would've thought you guys would be flying until lunch..."

"We've got trouble, Ma," I interrupted. "We spotted some ships anchored about a mile offshore – where's Pa?"

"The man's still out chief-ing – he should be back in a couple of minutes," Astrid replied. "Why? What's going on?"

"Ask Em," Flint replied. I decided to spill the beans on what I'd seen.

"Berserker ships," I explained hurriedly. "About a mile offshore – we just spotted them."

"Those were _Berserker_ ships?" Flint spluttered. Astrid dropped what she was doing as the triplets raced out.

"Berserker? Where? I wanna kick some Berserker butt!" Eva asked delightedly before her mother gave her a sharp clap around the head. "Ow...!"

"No on is kicking any Berserker butt! Not if we want to stay in an alliance with them," Astrid snapped.

"But why now?" Nott asked timidly. "The treaty signing's not supposed to take place for another month and a half!"

"Beats me," Astrid grimaced. Glancing up to the skies, she spotted a familiar shadow pass by overhead. "Oh, right on time...Hiccup!" she called, cupping a hand to even at thirty he had little to no regard for personal appearances.

"What is it?" he asked quickly. "Because I've got some livestock issues the Jorgensons have been wanting me to sort out for a week and it's only gonna get worse the longer I leave it..."

"Oh, no – I don't want to keep you," Astrid cut across. "I was just wondering when you invited the Berserkers over for lunch." Hiccup's eyes widened for a split second before narrowing in both confusion and shock.

"What? What're you talking about?" he frowned, his dark eyebrows knitting together. Astrid indicated me so he turned to face me and Flint. "Ember, Flint – what's going on?"

"We saw Berserker ships about a mile offshore," I quickly explained.

"Well, _Em_ did," Flint corrected me quickly. Hiccup's eyes narrowed until they were slits of green.

"When?" he asked sternly.

"Literally just now," I replied. "But why would they be here, Pa?"

"I don't know," Hiccup huffed, switching his gaze to the docks. "We'll have to see what they want – I'm not having another war break out here."

"Yeah, because personally I'd like to actually live to see my next birthday, thanks," Lysa muttered next to her sisters in the same sarcastic tone her father sometimes used. I don't know why but she always made me smile when she did that.

"But what's the guarantee that their intentions will be peaceful?" Astrid pointed out, her face darkening slightly. "Dagur _knows_ the treaty isn't due for signing for another month and a half."

"That's true," Hiccup grimaced. As a chief, he knew he had to take things carefully and assume that every visit from a neighbouring tribe during the daytime was peaceful unless it was made clear that the situation was anything but. As such, he couldn't appear to be ready for an attack and that meant no dragon squads ready to fight. However, knowing the Berserkers and especially Dagur the Deranged as he did, Hiccup also knew that he could never be too careful around them and that he had to have a backup plan in case all attempts at negotiation failed. "We'll have the squads ready just in case things turn ugly. Also, get the kids under ten to Thor's Beach – if something happens they'll be safer there. Other than that, just act like you normally do during the signings." Astrid nodded – Hiccup knew that keeping the most vulnerable out of sight and in the safety of Thor's Beach was the best thing for them whenever the Berserkers were around, and having the backup dragon squads out of sight just in case would be the best option.

"Do you want us around, Dad?" Flint asked. I caught a hint of expectedness in his voice – Flint and Hiccup had always been close, ever since Flint was little and the man was always certain that Flint would have his back. As of late, they'd grown apart slightly but Flint told me that the only reason for this was that Hiccup was being a bit overprotective of him – other than that, they were still pretty much best pals.

"Yes, but keep your dragons out of sight unless I say otherwise," Hiccup nodded, a small and brief worried look crossing his face. I'm good at picking up changes in facial expressions but I don't think Flint did seeing as he grinned slightly in pride. "Astrid and I will keep Toothless and Stormfly with us but I want you two to hide the other Night Furies for now – just keep them close." We nodded and set off to find Windwalker and the rest of the Night Fury fledglings.

"Pondskater – think you can find them?" I asked my dragon quickly once we were in the air. Pondskater nodded and his dark green eyes narrowed in concentration – Hiccup told me that dragons can communicate telepathically and the stronger the bond between dragons, the further the distance of which this could occur so members of the same family could pretty much find each other from miles away. After a while, Pondskater indicated an area of the forest with his nose so I started flying in that direction.

"The Cove again?" Flint asked from behind me, recognising the path. I shrugged.

"Well, it was where Toothless first met your dad," I replied.

"_Our_ dad – you're as much his daughter as the triplets," Flint pointed out. I paused, still angry for feeling that his statement wasn't true – we both knew it wasn't.

"Either way, he kinda made his home there for a while so it would make sense for the others to stay there," I continued. "It's not as if we've got enough room back at the house even with the extension." Flint guessed that I had a point and so remained quiet. As suspected, Pondskater led us to the Cove where the other Night Furies were waiting. I couldn't help but be taken aback by the beauty of Windwalker, the mother, when I saw her. She moved with a grace that was so delicate it was hard to imagine her being a strong fighter when she wanted to be. She treated all of her children gently but firmly and I knew that if I were ever to find my real mother, I wanted her to be like Windwalker.

"Shouldn't we leave them here?" Flint wondered aloud. "I mean – we can easily call them with a Night Fury howl if worst comes to worst and it's a lot safer here than near the village for them."

"You're right," I sighed. "But we'll need to spread the word to the others that they need to keep their dragons hidden – not all of them can stay here, it's way too small."

"The Whispering Death tunnels should do the trick," Flint suggested. "I mean, they're close enough to the village that we can get to them if we need to."

"Good idea," I nodded. I turned to the Night Furies. "Listen, the Berserkers are paying a surprise visit so we need you guys to lay low here for a while, okay?" I explained. The twins grumbled before their mother hushed them and gazed at me intently – somehow I felt that whenever she was looking at me it was with a certain sadness or recognition although I had no clue why. "Be sure to come if I call, though. Alright?"

Windwalker cooed her agreement – while I couldn't speak Dragonese, I could grasp the very basics of it despite having never been taught it (although Hiccup seemed to understand it perfectly – he never told us how, except that it had been a bit painful) so I could tell that she was accepting what I had told them to do. Luna and Draco muttered something and I caught the words 'not fair' in there somewhere. Starlight shook herself next to Flint before speaking.

"**Just take care,**" she sighed. She said nothing else after that but instead went to groom herself. We headed back to the village where three more dragons had just landed – a pink and yellow Monstrous Nightmare, a blue and grey Gronkle and a red, orange and blue Deadly Nadder landed – Sunset, Stormfly's daughter. Riding them were a woman with raven hair and pale green eyes, a man with a chestnut beard (the rest of his hair being covered by a helmet) and eyes of grey blue and a girl about my age with the man's hair colour and the woman's eye colour although she resembled the woman almost perfectly. Hiccup and Astrid were already there greeting them.

"Heather, Magnus – I'm so glad you could come," Hiccup greeted. "But did you really have to bring Iona with you? I thought I told Toothless to say that..."

"You really think I'm going to leave my daughter alone?" Heather huffed jokingly. Iona, her daughter, dismounted Sunset almost smugly – I knew Iona well. She was a year older than me and Flint and was an honorary member of the new Riders of Berk (me and the rest of the teens on Berk), just like her mother had been for our parents when they were teenagers. We only saw maybe once a month, twice if we could help it, but we were still fast friends with her.

"What're the Berserkers doing here anyway?" Magnus, Heather's husband, asked, keeping a hand on his sword hilt.

"We don't know," Astrid replied. "That's why we called you in."

"So that they would see that you're ready to call in backup if needed?" the Monstrous Nightmare growled. I would have been shocked if it weren't for the fact that I knew that Newtsbreath, Heather's dragon, was the only dragon we knew of that could speak Norse, hence why the telepathic message from Toothless had been relayed to Heather and her family.

"Exactly," Hiccup confirmed. "I just need to make it clear that although we're treating this as a peaceful visit we're not taking too many chances."

"I take it your dragons are hiding," Iona asked when she saw me and Flint.

"Yeah," Flint nodded. I smirked slightly when I saw a hint of red creeping onto his cheeks – Flint had liked Iona for ages but the one thing he couldn't pluck up the courage to do was ask her out. I used to tease the Hel out of him for it but it earned me more than a broken ankle on a weekly basis so I decided to drop it when I was seven. "We were just about to go tell the others – mind helping us out?"

"Sure – you want me to get the Ingermans?" Iona agreed, indicating the other side of the village.

"Ok – I'll tackle the Jorgensons, then," Flint decided. "Em – you mind getting the Thorstons?"

"Fine," I sagged. Great – not only did I have to persuade Stonewall to get Double Trouble hidden, I also had to get Tuffnut to find his sister and get Barf-Belch ready.

"Although I swear you've just done this to give me the hardest job..."

"Hey, I need to deal with Spitface and Snotlout here," Flint argued. Yeah, but Snotlout was his dad's cousin.

"_And_ I've got Ruffnut and Sticks to contend with," Iona pointed out. But she also had Scalene and Fishlegs which I felt made her job the easiest as a whole. Even so, we began to head off to our respective households whilst Hiccup and Astrid started to head down to the docks with Heather and Magnus.

/\

Well, it took a while to actually get the Thorstons to listen but I got there. Once I was certain that Stonewall had gone to find Sticks to hide their Hideous Zippleback and Tuffnut had gone to find Hiccup, I raced back to the docks where Flint and Iona were waiting.

"I still think you gave me the toughest job," I mumbled grumpily. Flint hushed me and pointed down to the docks – the Berserker ship had just come in so I held my tongue. There was something about the Berserkers that never sat well with me, I didn't quite know why. Even so, I tried to avoid them whenever they came over so it wasn't as if they knew I existed. Okay, scrap that, Hiccup always told me to go into hiding whenever they came over – he'd never explained why but it had kind of become habit by now. "How're things so far?"

"Dad's getting ready to do the usual meet-and-greets by the look of things," Flint remarked, squinting through one of his dad's telescopes. "I should probably head down – you coming?"

"You know Pa says I need to stay out of the way when it comes to these guys," I hissed, indicating the Berserker ship. "Just give me a yell if anything happens." Flint nodded and began jogging down to catch up with Hiccup and Astrid on the docks. I watched after him until I saw the group by the ships start to head up towards the village so I made a dash for the nearest house to hide behind it.

I didn't realise it at the time but underneath the viewing platform Flint and I had been standing on, a mysterious figure lurked in the shadows, its gaze fixated upon the Berserkers below.

* * *

**AN: Suspense! Also, cue the Berserkers! Before anyone asks, yes, Dagur will be making an appearance and, oh, sweet Odin! He's a fun character to write. However, do not expect the next update for ****_any_**** of my current stories to be coming up any time soon. I've got tons of stuff going on at school over the next few weeks - I will try to post something during the mid-term break if I can but I can't promise anything. **


End file.
